The Opelousas courier., 1887-06-04
THE PAPAG0S.
A Remarkable Tribe IF Chris
tian Indians in Arizona.
An Agricultural People, Whose Greatest
Enemies are the Apachea.

Enemies are the Apaohea.
The Papagos are a remarkable trioe o
Indians, who long ago accepted Chris'
tianity, and they must have been en-
lowed with great powers of endurance
since, living on the very frontier of tn
dreaded Apache country, they have re
sisted the Apache attacks. To-day tn
Papagos, especially those found nea'
San Xavier, arc agriculturists, and cult
vate the rich bottom-lands lying nca1
The Santa Cruz river. Their dwelling
are straw jcails pronounced hi.ca's),
which have generally q shed supported
by poles in front of them. These Papa.
Cos raise wheat, barley. beans, and
garden truck, but their methods of ag-
.iculture arc very crude. Their thrcsh-
ng is carried on in the Oriental manner,
~ means of horses, and the %winnowin9
s done by tossing the straw in the air.
To grind their grain the most primitive
Methods are used, cid women slowly
working the grain into flour by means of
land stones. AS pottcrs they have some
merit, their ollas, or water jugs, being
excellent, and in great demand through
tut the region.
They are a law abiding and peaeeable
people, have always been friendly to the
whites, and when emigrant trains were
N route Gor California their protection
las been often found of great service
lgainst rowing Indians. 1t is probable
hat, at the instigation of the whites,
hey had q hand in the massacre of the
Apaches at Camp Grant some twelve or
iourteen years ago. That they have
,een ininical to the Apaches for a very
ong period is quite evident from the fact
hat even to-day, when an attack is
hardly possible, a mounted sentry is In
rariably found in position on the high
ground, and he scans the hills and plains
round him.
Tley a hardly be called strictly
lonest, but if anything be left under
heir charge 1t is carefully guarded.
Their religion is a strange mixture of
catholicism and their older original be-
="
ief. Tho festivals of the Church are
observed, as are their own dances.
Faith in their medicine-man or conjurer
IT'LL exists. There exists a curious law of
ttonement: in case one man kills another,
lie may atone for his crime by fasting
or forty days, and living away from a
iouse, sleeping out on the hills.
Their condition is not a fortunate one, as
hey have not been benefited by ciyiliz-
ng influences. The adm nistration of the
and laws is p~erplcxing to them, and
here is an inclination on the part of the
white settlers to crowd them out. They
occupy an anomalous condition, and
,ot eeing the wards of the American
people, are therefore not the recipients
Of either r%ations, clothes or money.
The cathedral of San Xavier is an
adobe church erected by the franciscan
order in 1897, and is situated on q desert
plain twelve miles south of Tucson, Ari-
zona, not far from the Santa Cruz river.
Its preservation to-day is remarkable,
due to the equable character of the eli
mate and the absence of rains. No SER
rice has been held ut the cathedral for
The last twelve years. The plan of the
cathedral, with its aanking tower and
wall, suggests the power to resist at
tack, for at oil times the Apache must
have been an enemy whose su lden at
were to be dreaded. The interior
IF the church is rudely decorated. The
concentrations are designs taken
Biblical sources. Possibly the
fathers employed native tai
whose idea of art was but crude.
The Unitel States government has
appointed Mr.. Hart as subagent among
The Papagos, and he acts rs school mas
Ter and doctor-[Harper's Weekly.